The Reel World

Hollywood has a long-running reputation for doing films about the little man taking a stand against corporate greed.  Not only does everyone seem to like an underdog story, but when a story comes along where the everyday blue collar worker gets to go head to head against pharmaceutical companies, or Wall Street in general, it’s a no-brainer this could have commercial appeal.  Films like Mad City, John Q, and last years The Big Short are all films that seem to have an influence on Money Monster, but what would it bring to the table?  With Jodie Foster (Little Man Tate, The Beaver) at the helm and with George Clooney and Julia Roberts leading the cast, this was a film that grabbed my interest, but following the release of the trailer, I felt I already saw the entire film in a matter of three minutes. Or did the film have a few surprises hiding up its sleeve?

Should you pursue your dreams at any cost? If your life seems bleak and hopeless, should you go for broke and bet everything on what you believe? These questions are even more relevant to people who are creative artists, because they will often be told that their dreams are hopeless and unattainable. The rewards can be great, but the odds of succeeding are easily a million to one. Sing Street takes place in 1985 and is about young kids writing songs and making music videos. The parents, Robert (Aiden Gillian, Petyr “Littlefinger” Baelish from Game of Thrones) and Penny (Maria Doyle Kennedy, Siobhan Sadler from Orphan Black) are struggling like almost everyone in Dublin in those days.

"Suit Up!"

When I was a kid we had something called a toy box. Do kids even have such things anymore? Inside we were supposed to keep our toys when we weren't playing with them. Inside mine there were dinosaurs, cars with track, army men, spaceships ... and yes, superheroes. To open the toy box meant to prepare yourself for imagination and fun. Sure, the box got crowded after a while, but I was always filled with some kind of anticipation when I looked inside. Today going to see a Marvel movie is very much like lifting the lid on a toy box.

"Let's go find you a fish."

I've been told enough times that it is often not a good idea to meet your heroes. It's too often impossible for anyone to live up to expectations, particularly when they are already up on a pedestal in our minds. All humans have their flaws, and Ernest Hemingway was no exception. I never met him. He killed himself around the time I was busy being born. I often joked to my writing professors that he feared my arrival. The truth is that he had so many demons. It isn't a secret today, and it wasn't then, at least not for anyone familiar with his work.

Ever since writer/director Jeremy Saulnier came out with his gripping revenge film Blue Ruin, fans have been patiently waiting to see what he’d do next.  If you have not had the chance to see Blue Ruin and you are a fan of the revenge genre, it’s a film that is certainly a must-see and is one of the few films that lives up to the hype that surrounds it.  The problem with doing such a strong and powerful film so early in your career is that expectations seem to just skyrocket, and it seems there is just no way you can make everyone happy.  As a fan first and critic second, I know I’ve been guilty of doing this in the past. It’s almost impossible to not get excited, and at the screening for this film I know I was not the only one with high expectations.

"You must be kidding."

It is the most requested photograph from the White House archives. I'm talking about a photograph of Richard Nixon with The King. This particular King's kingdom wasn't a nation or political group. Of course, I'm talking about Elvis Presley, the King of Rock and Roll. The meeting occurred in the days before Nixon installed his infamous recording equipment and long before that fateful break-in at Watergate. So no one really knows what was said in the meeting. Now director Liza Johnson attempts to take us behind the closed doors of the Oval Office on that fateful day in December of 1970 when the leader of the free world met with the leader of a generation

“There is another story. One that comes long before...happily ever after.”

An unseen narrator — an uncredited Liam Neeson, wisely choosing not to show his face in this film — intones these words at the start of The Huntsman: Winter's War. He's talking about the saga involving a certain magic mirror and Ravenna (a still-captivating Charlize Theron), the wicked antagonist from 2012's Snow White and The Huntsman. But as this flat, uninspired prequel/sequel hybrid unfolds, it becomes clear that this “other story” is essentially an unimaginative mish-mash of Disney (shades of Frozen and Brave are added to the Snow White framework) and Tolkien.

For the Gasparilla International Film Festival, to nab the latest film from writer/director Richard Linklater is kind of a big deal. GIFF was the second festival to show Everybody Wants Some after its debut at the acclaimed South by Southwest festival.  With the film being lauded as a spiritual sequel to Linklater’s cult hit Dazed and Confused, I had to admit I was a bit skeptical about this film and its ability to even match up to its predecessor; after all, it was the indie darling that helped launched the careers of Matthew McConaughey, Ben Affleck, Milla Jovovich, and many others.  This ensemble of talented up-and-comers managed to capture this cinematic lightning in a bottle about high school, and for me it’s a film I manage to watch at least once a year when I come across someone who hasn’t yet seen the film.

"This is the law of the jungle..."

Disney appears to have a law that all of its classic cartoon features must now be made into live-action films. As I've mentioned in my review of the original classic The Jungle Book, the animated feature was the end of an important era at Walt Disney Studios. It was released about a year after Walt's death and was the last film he supervised from beginning to end. In the wake of Walt's death the studio experienced a sharp turnover and complete retooling of the animation department. With only the nine old men to carry the traditions of Walt into the future, The Jungle Book would forever mark a distinct milestone in the history of animated feature films.

Comic book movies are the preeminent form of movie entertainment in this day and age. I use the term broadly to include all sorts of fantasy books and ancillary offshoots. There is the Marvel Universe and the DC Universe and other universes that include Star Wars, Harry Potter, Game of Thrones, The Hunger Games, and endless variations. As consumers we become fans of a particular fantasy world from which we gain great personal pleasure. Religion is also a source of orientation for most of the world. We believe in various versions of God in which to invest our emotions fervently and honestly. There is a clear difference between fantasy and religion, but then we have YouTube, which is becoming increasingly crammed with “information” that crosses the line between fantasy and reality.